1. Description

1.1. System architecture

W-AIR is a Wildix cordless solution. The system supports auto-provisioning enabling instant connection to the Wildix PBX. Due to high scalability, new components are quickly and easily integrated to guarantee the better performance.

Wildix W-AIR system uses new wireless technology CAT-iq (Cordless Advanced Technology – Internet quality). It combines telephony and Internet offering a great variety of new features.

The architecture consists of three components:

1. Base station – an essential component of a DECT system. Wildix offers two types of base stations:

Single cell with W-AIR Base Small Business

To create a Wildix Small Business system it’s enough to install one Small Business Base Station to which you can connect up to 3 repeaters. Each system supports up to 8 cordless handsets.
Supported starting from WMS 3.80.28622.08.

Features

Up to 8 users per system

Up to 4 concurrent calls

Up to 3 repeaters per base

No multicell

Installation example

Multicell with W-AIR base / W-AIR base Outdoor

Base station is a basic component to create a wireless network. It’s possible to register up to 1000 cordless phones (only Wildix W-AIR phones). Base station allows up to 8 concurrent calls. Connecting other Base stations increases the number of calls. Base station has a built-in radio antenna that covers a radius of circa 50 meters indoors and up to 300 meters outdoors. By connecting Repeater you can increase the network range. It’s possible to connect up to 3 Repeaters to every Base station (depending on the total number of base stations), in their turn they can be connected to each other in chain of maximum 3 Repeaters. Up to five users can communicate concurrently within the coverage range of every Repeater.

Scalability:

Up to 1000 users per system

Up to 250 bases

Up to 30 handsets registered to one base station*

Up to 3 Repeaters per base

Up to 50 bases – 3 repeaters

50-125 bases – 1 repeater

125-250 bases – no repeater

Up to 100 Repeaters registered to one system

Up to 8 concurrent calls per base

Handover through the base station (max. 8 simultaneous handovers)

Up to 5 concurrent calls per repeater

* Note: by default W-AIR system supports up to 20 devices, to increase the number to 30 devices, use Custom Provisioning parameter, described in this document: https://confluence.wildix.com/x/KQg8AQ

W-AIR Base Station Outdoor has been especially designed for extreme environmental conditions.

Supported starting from WMS release 3.82.32669

Intelligent Networking Configuration

Connecting 3 Repeaters in a chain

Example of Base Station and Repeater positioning

Note: For a good conversation and a correct handover between bases and Repeaters the dBm value must be between -75 and 0. Base stations cannot be connected with the help of repeater.

2. Planning a W-AIR Network (Multicell W-AIR Base Stations)

Requirements

PoE switches

DHCP server

If you are using a WMS integrated DHCP Server, go to Settings → System → DHCP Server and search for the device among the DHCP leases.

2.1. IMPORTANT: Site Survey

Before getting started make sure the cordless phone is fully charged, then follow the steps below:

place the W-AIR base station exactly at the desired position and power on the base.

use the building plan drawing and check the base station coverage using the phone and the Site survey mode of the phone. Mark up the acceptable and unacceptable spots on the plan drawing. Take a note of the RSSI level of the base. Acceptable spots are the ones where the phone shows RSSI levels better than -75 dBm

Typically, when the system is installed in the office buildings, hotels or hospitals, there should be both base stations and Repeaters on several floors to create uniform and complete radio coverage. Open areas can be covered by wide network of Base stations. In these applications, the base stations and/or Repeaters cover an extended range due to the extended line-of-sight radio propagation capability.

NOTE:

Starting from the FW 3.15 (WMS version 3.4x), site survey is possible without network connectivity.

To perform the site survey you need a 48V PoE power injector, a base station and a W-AIR phone. Follow the steps below:

Upgrade the Base station

Reset the Base station to default settings

Connect the Base station to the power injector and turn it on

Go to the main menu of the W-AIR phone

Type *ip* (*47*)

The phone will show the base station, select the base station to view the coverage value.

2.2. Check the Radio Coverage

Handsets

Go to the main menu (the phone must be registered to the base station)

Type *service* (*7378423*).

Select the line Site survey mode

The phone will show up to 5 bases (RPN) and the coverage value.

Check PP and FP values, they indicate the transmission errors. Empty value or a low number indicates a correct behavior (100 value = the worst behavior)

Bases

For a good conversation and a correct handover between bases and Repeaters the dBm value should be between -75 and 0.

Go to the web interface of a base station and click on Multi Cell to see the status and the coverage values of every connected base, check the column DECT sync source to know the value.

Repeaters

Go to the web interface of a base station and click on Repeaters to see the status and the coverage values of every connected Repeater, check the column DECT sync source to know the value.

2.3. Plan an installation

Deployment Issues

The following radio related issues should be considered before deploying a typical WILDIX W-AIR VoIP System:

Building Penetration: when a signal strikes on a building it is diffracted or absorbed; therefore the signal can be reduced. The amount of absorption depends on the building and its environment, the amount of solid structure.

Interference Sources: other signals can create interferences and weaken the signals of the receiving antennas. These interferences can come from the same network or from the outside. For choosing the optimal position of the Base station and Repeaters, these potential interference sources should be considered before installing a Wildix W-AIR system.

Radio/Cell Range: a suggested distance between two base stations depends on the physical path between them. If the path loss is lessened, e.g. by minimizing the amount of walls/obstacles on the path, then the signals of the base stations cover more distance. In a typical office building a suggested distance between two base stations is 30-40 m.

NOTE: Do not place base stations close to GSM Media gateways (W01GSM)

The purpose of this section is to shortly describe how to plan the base position and the phone coverage. The maximum quantity of calls is indicated in the list below:

Base stations: up to 8 simultaneous calls

Repeaters: up to 5 simultaneous calls

Notes:

The total coverage capacity of a base station and one or more Repeaters, is always limited to the capacities of a base station.

A W-AIR network uses an auto-balancing model to increase the number of simultaneous calls, distributing the calls to 2 or more adjacent Base stations

Simulate the worst environmental conditions (close the doors, turn on the equipment, etc) to perform a realistic test of configuration

Call 98 code (conference) on your W-AIR Handset to listen to the music on hold, to test an audio reception quality.

Call 76 code (echo) on your W-AIR Handset to test the voice quality

Base station/Repeater Placement Strategy

The antennas of the base stations are close to omnidirectional, thus it is not important how the base stations are directed and how they face each other. There is no single strategy for deploying base stations, but there are some recommendations:

In the Corridors: base stations/Repeater should be deployed vertically, preferably in the corridor intersections so that the propagation follows the corridor patterns/curves. If there are high objects in the area, the base station/Repeater should be installed above them.

Multi-storey Buildings: base stations and Repeaters can be installed on the opposite sides of the floors to cover the area floor-to-floor. The coverage design cannot rely entirely on floor-to-floor propagation; each case should be verified due to variations in local attenuation patterns

Large Halls: base stations and Repeaters can be deployed in large halls that contain a central open space area with windows leading to other areas. This provides a good coverage for the rooms in the inner circle on all floors (e.g. hotels). In large halls, Base stations/Repeaters should be installed vertically in the middle of the space below the drop ceiling.

Mounting Positions: when Base stations and Repeaters are mounted vertically on a wall, the radio coverage in front of these devices is twice as large as the coverage behind them. The base stations should always be mounted higher than the obstructive objects in the area – e.g. minimally 2m above the floor. Repeaters should be installed in the middle of the corridors and small rooms.

Metallic Structures/Objects: base stations and Repeaters should not be deployed near large metallic objects

Reinforced Concrete Structures: these structures create a high attenuation factor inside the building. They reduce the radio coverage range of the Base stations and Repeaters thus a higher number of base stations or Repeaters are required in the building. Lighter types of construction materials require fewer base stations since attenuation figures are considerably lower.

3. W-AIR Network configuration

3.1. Provision base stations

Guide on provisioning: https://confluence.wildix.com/x/zAQ8AQ

Go to menu Devices of the WMS, click “Add” and provision the gateway. Provisioned base stations appear in the table:

3.2. Create a W-AIR Network

W-AIR Base Station Small Business:

For Base Station SB the W-AIR Network is created automatically with the default Pin Code 0000” (the Pin is used to register handsets). Since Base Station SB is single cell, the base stations are not displayed in the menu “W-AIR Networks” and thus you can skip this step and proceed to the next chapter (3.3. Register/Deregister a Handset).

Multicell Base Stations:

NOTES:

W-AIR Network consists of one or more gateways that should belong to the same LAN or connected via VPN (without NAT). A base station can be a part of a W-AIR Network only if is reachable by other base stations. W-AIR cells exchange the network packages; in order to ensure the sync in case the packages are bigger than 1500 bytes, the network must correctly process “UDP fragmentation”

In order to be able to configure a W-AIR network, an NTP server is necessary. To configure the gateway to use the NTP server of the PBX, select the gateway and click “Edit”, then enter the PBX IP address into the line “NTP Server” and click “Save”.

In case you add a base station that previously functioned as a separate base station or belonged to a different W-AIR network, it’s necessary first to delete the base station, reset it and add it again to the WMS.

Go to menu Devices → W-AIR Networks → “Add”

Enter the name Name for your W-AIR Network

Select the gateways from the list on the left and move them to the list on the right

Note: If you change the Pin Code in the field “Code” from the default one (“0000”), Repeaters will not work, so it is recommended to keep the default Pin Code.

Click “Save”

Note: The first devices becomes the Main base of the network (M). The gateways make Radio sync with each other automatically to extend the work range if possible.

First log out (register to “unknown” account) by calling the Feature Code “Login” (“99” by default), then Select “Deregister” in the “Connectivity” menu of the handset and enter the Pin Code “0000”, then press “Yes”.

3.4. Set up Repeaters

Note: In multi-cell installation, up to 3 repeaters per base are supported:

Up to 50 bases: 3 repeaters

50-125 bases: 1 repeater

125-250 bases: no repeater

Depending on the number of Bases (in case of multi-cell installation), you should specify the number of Repeaters on the web interface of the Base station (under Base station settings):

Find the IP of the base station that you want to repeat (on the WMS devices list)

Access the base station’s web interface, enter a username “admin” and a password that you can find in the WMS Devices menu in the “Password” field of the given base station.

Select Repeaters in the menu and click on “Add Repeater”

Select Manually from the drop-down menu if it is present, then choose the Station ID (DECT sync source) where you want to connect the Repeater and confirm by pressing the Save button

Reboot the Base station (go to Management menu and click “Save and reboot”). After the system reboots, go back to the base station’s interface

Select Repeaters in the menu

Select a Repeater(s) you want to add to the chain and click on Register Repeater(s)

Now you have 5 minutes to turn on the Repeater(s)

LED of the Repeater should turn solid green in several seconds, if it fails (solid RED) please repeat the steps after the reboot of the base station

Notes:

If you have any problems with registering Repeater(s), reset it by pressing the Reset button on the back side for more than 2 seconds (LED turns solid RED and then GREEN with a double pulsation). Start the registration procedure again by following the last three points above.

The Repeater should be placed on a distance not less than 10 meters from its Base station.

For a good conversation and a correct handover between bases and Repeaters the dBm value should be between -75 and 0. (See the chapter 2.2. Check the Radio Coverage – Repeaters)

LEDs of the Repeaters

LED blinks green with a double pulse during the first registration process

LED blinks green during the connection process

LED remains solid green when it is registered to a base station

LED blinks green with a fast pulse when a phone connected to the Repeater starts a new call, during the conversation it blinks red

LED becomes solid red if the Repeater fails to connect to the base station

Double color flashing (red/green): Repeater is in recovery mode for one of the following reasons (try to re-assign Repeater to Base station):

Look at the DECT Chain Tree to check the solution you have decided to set up.

The DECT Chain Tree should correspond to the real Bases deployment (as in the following example)

The value shown in the “DECT sync source” field indicates the real dBm value.

Based on this value you can choose the best connection solution for your system, taking into consideration any obstacles present in the environment.

Note: When you modify the DECT Chain Tree, you have to start the System Sync. This operation can take up to 10 minutes.

5. Technical Notes

5.1. Call Features (DND, Call Forward, Call Waiting, Ring tones)

All the Call Features can be set up in WMS or Wildix Collaborations in User Settings, or otherwise, directly from the handset, by dialing the Feature Codes of the system.

6. Upgrade Procedure of W-AIR system

6.1. FW upgrade of Base Stations

When there is the new FW available, the base stations appear in blue in the Devices menu of WMS.

To upgrade the FW, select one or multiple base stations, and click “Configure/Sync”. Wait for several minutes, during the FW upgrade, devices are rebooted. As soon as the upgrade procedure is finished, the new FW version appears in the Devices menu of the WMS, the base stations are no longer marked with the blue color.

6.2. FW upgrade of Repeaters and Handsets

After the upgrade of the base stations, Repeaters and Handsets connected to the system, download the new FW automatically.

You can monitor the process of the FW upgrade from the base station’s web interface.

Repeaters

Notes:

Repeaters must be connected, in order to be able to perform the upgrade procedure.

Do not turn off or reboot repeaters manually during the upgrade: they restart automatically.

Go to the Base Station interface, menu “Repeaters”: During the reboot you can see the progress of the upgrade of the repeaters in the field “FWU Progress”. As soon as it’s finished, the “FWU Progress” displays “Complete”.

Handsets

Note: New FW is downloaded automatically after the Base Stations have been upgraded. To complete the FW upgrade procedure of the handsets, the handsets must be placed into the charger

During the procedure you can see the status of the upgrade of the phones, the procedure takes about 30 minutes. Go to the Base Station interface, menu “Extensions” (Go to tab “Handset” of “Extensions” menu – only for Base Station SB): During the reboot you can see the progress of the upgrade in the field “FWU Progress”. As soon as it’s finished, the “FWU Progress” displays “Complete”.

7. Alarms setting (Wildix W-AIR 150)

7.1. Prerequisites

Emergency settings are defined and controlled from the web interface of the base station.

Triggering an alarm is possible only from the Wildix W-AIR 150 handset.

FW Version: Starting from 03.23.00.19

7.2. Types of alarms

Wildix W-AIR 150 supports five types of alarm.

Alarm Button

This alarm is triggered by long-pressing (3 seconds) the red button on top of the handset.

Pull Cord Alarm

The Pull Cord alarm can be triggered by pulling a cord containing a magnet from the pull cord hole on the right side of the handset.

Running Alarm

To trigger the Running Alarm the handset needs to be shaken up and down for several seconds.

Man Down Alarm

The Man Down alarm is triggered if the handset remains in the position with an angle over 60 degrees with respect to the horizontal. The time for the handset to be still before the alarm is triggered can be set on base station web interface (read the next chapter 7.3. Set up emergency profiles)

No Movement Alarm

To trigger the No Movement alarm the handset needs to be in no movement. The timeout after which No Movement alarm is triggered is set on the base station web interface.

7.3. Set up emergency profiles

Go to the menu “Alarms”. In this menu eight different alarm profiles can be configured. The parameters that can be configured are:

Profile Alias: A user friendly name to help identify the different profiles when selecting which one to enable for individual handsets.

Alarm Signal: Call. The alarm is made as an outgoing call to the emergency number preconfigured for the extension.

Stop Alarm from Handset: Enable/Disable. The possibility to cancel an alarm from the handset.

Trigger Delay: The timeout before the phone starts showing pre-alarm warning. If set to 0, the alarm is sent immediately (max. value is 255 sec.).

Note: For Man Down alarm, add the default delay of 6 seconds which is the time needed for the alarm detection (e.g. if set to “0”, alarm is triggered after 6 sec, if set to “30”, alarm is triggered after 36 sec.)

Stop Pre-Alarm from Handset: Enable/Disable the possibility to cancel the pre-alarm from the handset.

Pre-Alarm Delay: The timeout during which the pre-alarm warning is displayed until the actual alarm is sent (max. value is 255 sec.)

Howling: Enable/Disable the howling of the handset when the alarm is triggered.

After you have defined the Emergency profiles, click “Save” to apply.

7.4. Assign emergency profile to handsets

W-AIR Base Station / W-AIR Base Station Outdoor (Multicell)

1. Go to the menu “Extensions”

2. Click on the field “Idx” or “Extension” of the handset:

3. The following window is displayed, allowing you to set up emergency settings:

4. Modify the parameter “Alarm Number”: Enter the number to be called when the alarm is triggered from the handset

Note: You can enter an extension number that must be called or customise the service by modifying the Dialplan in the WMS and to add the “Alarm Number” as a Called number into a Dialplan procedure.

5. Tick off the Profiles that you wish to enable for this handset

6. Click “Save” on the bottom of the page

7. Go to “Management” menu and click “Save and reboot” to reboot the base station and apply the new parameters.

W-AIR Base Station Small Business (SB)

1. Go to the menu “Extensions”

2. Click on the “IPEI” of the handset.

3. The following window is displayed, allowing you to set up emergency settings:

4. Modify the parameters:

“Alarm Line”: select the handset’s extension number

“Alarm Number”: Enter the number to be called when the alarm is triggered from the handset

Note: You can enter an extension number that must be called or customise the service by modifying the Dialplan in the WMS and to add the “Alarm Number” as a Called number into a Dialplan procedure.

5. Tick off the Profiles that you wish to enable for this handset

6. Click “Save” on the bottom of the page

7. Go to “Management” menu and click “Save and reboot” to reboot the base station and apply the new parameters.

Appendix: W-AIR Base Radiation pattern

The radiation pattern is measured when the unit is in an upright position.

If you print the pattern out on a paper and place a BS in the center you can see the radiation pattern.

A doughnut shape radiation pattern means that the radiation is mainly concentrated on the sides of the Base and the radiation levels at the top and at the bottom are from -10 to -15dB lower.